Wire-connector wrench



Nov. 15, 1960 A. R. LINDEN 2,959,995

wmrs-connac'rog WRENCH Filed July 25, 1957 Ei EQ =4 at? M August RaymondLinczen United StatesyPatent O WIRE-CONNECTOR WRENCH August RaymondLinden, Sycamore, Ill., assignor to Holub Industries, Inc., Sycamore,Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 25, 1957, Ser. No. 674,233

2 Claims. (Cl. 81-120) This invention relates to a wrench for use byelectricians in the application of wire connectors of the screw-on type,like that shown in Smith Patent 2,772,323, for example. 9

These screw-on wire connectors comprise a tapered hollow shell of aplastic or other insulation material in the bore of which is a screwthread or screw-threaded insert adapted to screw over a pigtail spliceformed by the ends of two or more stripped wires and positively wedgethem together inside the shell for a good electrical connection and alsogood insulation of the connection. These connectors are usuallyavailable in four or more sizes to accommodate the many sizes andcombinations of solid and stranded wire, although for all-purpose wiringtwo sizes are generally recommended. The shells may be knurled or flutedor provided with facets on the outside for good purchase and quickerapplication by hand. However, it has been found that ones fingers areapt to get sore after a number of such operations, especially if theconnectors are turned on securely, as they must be for a good electricalconnection. On the other hand, it is not safe to use pliers to tightenthese connectors because of the danger of cracking the plastic shells ingripping the same tightly enough for tightening, and a cracked shellcould cause a short circuit. It is therefore the principal object of; myinvention to provide a thumb-and-fingeror fingers-operable wrenchdesigned for easy application to the shells of these connectors inpositive mesh with the outer periphery and wedgingly engaged thereon,affording sufiicient leverage to enable good tightening, without anystrain or hurt to the operator and without the slightest danger ofdamaging the shells of the connectors.

Two tapered sockets of different diameters are conveniently provided incoaxial relationship facing in 01)- posite directions and located onopposite sides of the radially spoked central hub or finger-grip portionof the wrench to fit two different sizes of connectors.

As an added convenience, the three leverage-providing spokes of the hubare also provided with wire-gauge holes of different sizes, the strippedwire to be measured being slipped with a close fit into the hole of thesame size and the wire gauge being indicated adjacent the hole.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figs.1 and 2 are an end view and side view, respectively, of a wrench made inaccordance with my invention, the latter indicating in dotted lines howthe wrench will fit and can be used interchangeably with two differentsizes of wire connectors;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views illustrating, respectively, the preliminaryapplication of a connector to two wires to be connected and thetightening of the connector with the wrench of Figs. 1 and 2, and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the pigtail splice of Fig. 4 with the connectorremoved.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 6 designates ascrew-on-type wire connector of the kind disclosed in Smith Patent No.2,772,323, the tapered hollow shell 7 of which is molded of bakelite orphenolic resin with a copper-plated steel coiled spring 8 insertedtherein to define the screw threaded bore with which to screw overpigtail splices formed by the stripped ends of two or more wires 9, asindicated at 10 in Fig. 4, for positively wedging the wires togetherinside the shell for a good electrical connection whilealso furnishinggood insulation for the connectors. These connectors are usuallyavailable in four or more sizes to accommodate the many sizes andcombinations of solid and stranded wire,- although, for all-purposewiring, two sizes like those indicated at 6 and 6a in Fig. 2 aregenerally recommended. The shells 7 may be provided with flutes orfacets on the outside but are shown as knurled lengthwise of the majorportion thereof, as indicated at 11, for good purchase and quickerapplication by hand. However, 'as pointed out above, ones fingers areapt to get sore after a number of applications of such connectors,especially if they are turned pretty tight, but it is not safe to usepliers to tighten them, because of the danger of cracking the plasticshells when gripping the same tightly enough for tightening theconnection, and it is for that reason that the wrench indicated at 12fills a real need by affording sufiicient leverage to enable goodtightening by hand without any strain or hurt to the operator and at thesame time without the slightest danger of damaging the shells of theconnectors.

The wrench 12 comprises a one-piece die-cast body providing two sockets13 and 14 in coaxial relationship on opposite sides of a central hubportion 15, the sockets having tapered longitudinally grooved bores ofdifferent diameters facing in opposite directions, as indicated at 16and 17, to fit two different sizes of longitudinally knurled connectors6 and 6a, as shown in Fig. 2. For other connectors having differentdimensions, another wrench 12 having sockets with correspondinglydimensioned bores to fit the same will be provided. The longitudinalgrooves in the bores 16 and 17 match and mesh positively with theknurling 11 on the shells 7 and, when either a connector 6 is wedginglyengaged in bore 16, or a connector 6a is wedgingly engaged in bore 17, agood driving connection is provided, thus enabling the connector to betightened by comfortable manual operation of the wrench. The hub 15 ismade in the form generally of a triangle except that the three sides areconcave, as indicated at 18 in Fig. l, and the hub has peripheralflanges 19 projecting from opposite sides thereof to provide wide smoothsurfaces 18 for better thumb and finger grips, as the wrench is usuallyheld by the thumb and first two fingers, as indicated in dotted lines atT and F1 and F2 in Fig. 1, and in full lines in Fig. 4. Thus, there arethree spokes or lever arms 20 defined at the three points of thetriangle, all extending radially in equally circumferentially spacedrelation with respect to the sockets 13 and 14 to afford good leverage,which, taken with the wide, smooth finger-grip surfaces, concaved to fitthe fingers and enable good gripping, without any likelihood ofslippage, insures the right amount of tightening of the connectorswithout any noticeable strain or hurt to the operator. The operatorwill, of course, use the socket 13 for larger-size connectors 6 and thesocket 14 for smaller-size connectors 6a. Thus, if two wrenches of thistype are provided, having different sizes of sockets, four differentsizes of connectors can be accommodated, and, if each of these wrencheshas a different set of three wire-gauge holes of different sizes,

six different sizes of wire can be measured in the manner hereinafterdescribed.

In operation, the connector 6 or 6a is first applied by hand over thestripped ends of two or more wires 9 to bev connected inthe mannerindicated in Fig. 3, and given a few turns to thread it onto the wiresand start twisting them into the form of a pigtail splice, and then thewrench12 is applied for the final tightening of the connector, as shownin Fig. 4, so that the operator can obtain the right tightness withoutstrain or hurt and without .the slightest danger of damaging the shellof the connector. In other words, the wrench makes the work easier,while insuring tighter and better electrical connections, and cityelectrical inspectors find their work easier, where these wrenches areused, because there is no likelihood of any wire connector shells beingcracked and requiring the inspectors to reject such splices.

As an added convenience, the three leverage-providing spokes or arms 20of the hub on each wrench are also provided with wire-gauge holes ofdifferent sizes, as indicated at 21, 22 and 23 in Fig. 1, the strippedwire to be measured being slipped with a close fit into the hole of thesame size and the gauge of the wire being indicated adjacent the hole,as seen at 24.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. A wrench of the character described comprising a hollow, cylindricalsocket member having work-engaging bores of ditferent sizes in oppositeends; means intermediate the ends of said socket providing a generallytriangular hub portion in rigid concentric relation thereto forthumb-and-finger manipulation thereof, the sides of the triangle beingarcuately concave to define nonslip 'thumb-and-finger-grip areas on thesides of said triangular hub, and a peripheral flange on said hubportion, whereby the concave peripheral portions on which thethumband-finger-grip areas are defined are substantially wider than thethickness of said hub portion for more comfortable gripping.

2. A wrench comprising a hollow, cylindrical socket member havingaxially-aligned tapered bores of diiferent sizes in opposite endsthereof; said socket member having a generally triangular hub portionintermediate its ends in rigid concentric relation thereto for thumb andfinger manipulation thereof, the sides of the triangle being arcuatelyconcave to define nonslip thuinb-and-finger-grip areas on the sides ofsaid triangular hub.

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